History of ComputersEthan, 9C

Early Computers

The Abacus

The Abacus was an early calculator used around the world. It was the world’s first calculator/computer, aiding the user in counting large numbers. In the Chinese Abacus, the top beads represent 5 and the bottom beads represent 1.

The Pascaline

The Pascaline, or the Arithmetic Machine, was the first adding machine to be produced and it was actually used. Blaise Pascal, a French inventor, created it to help his dad, who was a tax collector in 1642.

The Analytical and Difference Engines

The Analytical and Difference Engines were created by Charles Babbage in the 19th Century. The Difference Engine was commissioned by the British Government and was a simple calculating machine. The Analytical Engine was more complex and is generally considered the first computer.

Herman Hollerith

Herman Hollerith, an American inventor, invented a tabulating machine that was a precursor of the electric computer. He had invented a machine that mechanically recorded statistics by sorting punch cards.

First Generation Computers

Colossus

The Colossus was a computer built during World War II by the British to help break German codes. It was designed by British engineer Thomas Flowers and used about 1,600 vacuum tubes to compute information.

E.N.I.A.C.E.N.I.A.C., or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was the first

programmable general-purpose electronic digital computer also built during World War II. It was created by the U.S., by John Mauchly and his colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

EDVAC

The EDVAC was the first computer designed with internal programming capacity. EDVAC stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer.

UNIVAC

UNIVAC, or Universal Automatic Computer, was created by American engineers John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr., the same people that had created the ENIAC. It was designed as a commercial data-processing computer.

The Difference

The difference between First Generation Computers and Early Computers was that they were much smaller and were incapable of solving complicated equations like the First Generation Computers. Early Computers were also slower and were not electronically powered, as electricity was not used back then. Due to the use of vacuum tubes, First Generation Computers were able to solve problems in milliseconds.

Second Generation Computers

The Difference

The difference between First Generation Computers like the UNIVAC or the EDVAC was that First Generation Computers used vacuum tubes. Second Generation Computers used transistors, cutting down the amount of energy used to power the computer. They were also much smaller. They were faster, calculating equations in microseconds and was more accurate. It was also more commercially used, as World War II was over and everything was not needed for the war effort.

Third Generation Computers

The Difference

The difference between Third Generation Computers and Second Generation Computers is that Third Generation Computers used integrated circuits. A single integrated chip could contain hundreds or thousands of transistors. Third Generation Computers were smaller, faster, used less energy, and more reliable then it’s predecessors, making calculations in nanoseconds.

Fourth Generation Computers

Altair 8800The Altair 8800 was one of the first personal computers, if not

the first one. You could buy an Altair 8800 for $439 and it would come with everything you need to build it yourself, including instructions. Ed Roberts, president of MITS (Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems) designed the Altair 8800.

Apple I and II

The Apple I was developed by Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs’ garage. It was a simple working circuit board but the Apple II offered colour display and could manipulate data. Both were very successful.

Macintosh

The Apple Macintosh is considered to be the first commercially successful computer that used Graphic User Interface. The original product only had 128k of RAM, making it pretty slow, so Apple released another one, referred to as the “Fat Mac”, which had 512k of RAM, much faster than the original.

IBM PC

The IBM PC was IBM’s most successful personal computer, the “professional looking” board making it popular. It was not very fast, but later versions were faster and could be even faster with expansion cards.

The Difference

Fourth Generation Computers used microprocessors. Microprocessors contained thousands of integrated circuits, which contained thousands of transistors. It was cheap, fast, reliable and used little energy compared to past generations. It was very small, able to fit on your desk at work or at home and was general purpose.

Fifth Generation Computers

The Difference

Fifth Generation Computers are capable of thinking like humans. This is Artificial Intelligence, and these control the computer in games, the people that are fighting or playing against you or with you. They are also used in everyday lives, like Siri. He (or she) can search up many things just by asking, like what is the weather.

iPad, iPhone, and iPodApple’s iPhone is a touch screen smartphone that was

revolutionary in the world of phones. Apple released version after version, with Siri being a new, fun helper in using your phone. All you have to do is ask Siri. The iPad was a big version of the iPhone and the iPod was an iPhone with out calling capabilities.

Android

Android phones are just like Apple phones, in the same way that Apple phones are just like Android phones. They both use Artificial Intelligences, Apple using Siri, and Android using Google. There is no one that is better, there are phones that are to the user’s preference.

Google Glasses

Google Glasses are glasses that have the abilities of a smart phone. You can access Google, search things, call people or take pictures. It even has a GPS chip built into it and it guides you to where you want to be with help from Google Maps.

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